Chapter 7
LAKE
The chair creaked as I spun back and forth. The computer screen was full of my notes but my hands were busy squeezing the hell out of my stress ball.
What to do...
Now more than ever, I believed we needed to make a splash. Do something so heinous that everyone who even thought about looking at us crossways shit themselves. The question was, what was that heinous thing?
My phone lit up. A text from Parker.
Gritting my teeth, I weighed the pros and cons of answering it.
I hadn't heard from him since he and his brother disappeared from the hospital. It was wishful thinking that they tracked down that piece of shit Gio and handled him. I also wasn't sure where he stood with Parker, even after Gio and Adrian breached the club and tried to steal Beasty.
Did Gio even know that Storm was dead?
I blew out a harsh breath.
A knock came at the office door. I checked the camera on my phone, just in case. It was Guy. Pressing the button to unlock it, I leaned back as he breezed in.
There was no smile on his face as he jumped right in. "Parker and Andre are in the main room."
I jumped up so fast, my chair tipped backward. "Fuck." I walked over to the cameras on the wall. Sure enough, there was fucking Parker, happy as you please, smacking Andre's shoulder while laughing at something.
The staff zoomed around them, stocking tables and getting ready for our reopen, all while sneaking them looks. I got it, they gave off danger even if you had no idea what they were into.
"What did they say?"
Guy joined me, scratching his cheek. "Just that they needed to speak with you. Nothing nefarious if that's what you're asking."
I grunted. I didn't expect them to come in and announce the cartel. "Bring them back. Might as well get this over with and see what the fallout is." I paused. “And alert security just in case this goes sideways.”
He nodded, slipping away. Before the door shut, Beasty stepped in with her faithful puppy, Atlas, on her heels.
Goddamn it. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course I wouldn't be able to do this in peace. Still, I had to try. Though, I’d have better luck if she’d been with Joaquin. Not that that would happen with how strange he’d been acting.
"Atlas, do you want to take Beasty to get some food in the main room?" I gave him a pointed look.
He glanced from me to the cameras. "Who's here?"
Just point a neon flashing sign at the screens for Beasty, why don’t you.
Beasty stepped closer, eyeing the surveillance. The girl was just too fucking observant. "Sorry. You're not going to get rid of me." She raised a brow in challenge while tapping one of the screens. "That's that Parker man. And his brother."
I grunted.
"Perfect. I hated missing out last time and I want to know what's going on. Especially if they've talked to Gio." Her voice shook over Gio's name but I didn't think it was anger. If I had to guess, she was remembering how Storm took her. Did she care that he'd died?
"Come here, Beasty. You can sit in my lap." Atlas dropped into her desk chair and patted his thighs. She scoffed, but walked toward him with only a slight tremor in her hands.
"I'm not going to sit in your lap like some kind of floozy. I want to be taken seriously by these guys." She tried to sit on the arm of the chair, but Atlas wasn't having it.
Frowning, he snagged his arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap anyway.
She struggled, but stopped when a knock preceded Guy pushing the door open.
Parker came through first, his intelligent eyes taking in the room and the red-faced Beasty.
His brows popped up but he didn't comment on it.
Andre followed behind him, stone faced as I'd ever seen him.
The second they walked into the office, a thick, cloying tension snapped between us. It felt tight over my skin like this could be the moment all hell broke loose and we got a different war than we wanted.
"Gentlemen," I ground out, heading back to my desk. I didn't take my seat, instead leaning my ass against the edge.
"I'd say it's nice to see you, but you Fashion Boys are too much trouble," Parker quipped as he stretched out on the couch. Andre took the space next to him, not nearly as relaxed.
Forcing my shoulders down, I rolled my head, cracking my neck.
Parker smirked like he knew I was stalling. Well, fuck him.
"We missed you at the hospital," Atlas kicked off the conversation.
I glared at him, but he just watched Parker and Andre with a soft amusement. Glad someone was able to forget about the storm cloud hanging over our heads.
Grinning, Parker shook a finger at Atlas. "You know, I think I like you. I couldn't work with you, but I can tell a shit-stirrer when I see one." They laughed like they were becoming fast friends.
What the fuck?
Andre was puzzled too by the look on his face. Shaking his head, he turned to me. "We need to have a chat."
"What my dear brother is trying to say is, shit has hit the fan."
We were quiet, waiting for him to continue. I had no idea where he was going with this and we wouldn't do ourselves any favors by assuming. Did he mean hit the fan as in he had shit tastes in employees, or hit the fan as in he wanted his piece of Snatched back?
Surprising, after a long pause, Beasty broke it.
"I was told you’re no longer a silent backer in Snatched." Her eyes narrowed on Parker, daring him to say otherwise.
Atlas' hands tightened on her waist, but it was the only sign that he thought she was being reckless. I held my breath, quietly shifting my hand closer to the gun at my waist, waiting to see if we were going to have to call in a cleanup crew to get Parker's and Andre's bodies out of here.
Parker raised one brow, his usual smirk gone. Andre looked pissed as he leveled a look at Beasty. I did not like that at fucking all.
"Little girl, did they tell you why they think that?"
I tensed. Beasty, the queen that she was, didn't show any reaction to his belittlement or his implied threat.
"I know you were dumb enough to make a bet with Joaquin. If you'd done your homework, you would have known that you never make bets with a man who lives and breathes numbers. If you ask me, you deserved to lose your hold over them." She sniffed as if she smelled shit.
Unsnapping the clip on my gun, I bent forward, just a hair, ready to save her ass. A bead of sweat rolled down my temple as both Andre and Parker glared at Beasty.
Parker licked his lips. It wasn't an admission of loss for him, more like a sign of oncoming aggression.
"I've killed people for less insult than that," he said, his voice deepening.
Shit. We were about to have a gunfight in the office, and there wasn’t a thing in here that was bulletproof. If we lived past the next five minutes, I’d be fixing that error in judgement.
Beasty's nostrils flared and Atlas completely wound his arms around her as his legs tensed. He was preparing to spin her around and cover her body with his.
"Then you're no better than the monsters who tried to kill me." Beasty tried to stand up but Atlas yanked her back down. "Let me go."
"No," Atlas said through gritted teeth.
Parker opened his mouth, but a muted voice came through from some-fucking-where. "Parker Adair!"
Andre's stern expression cracked as smug amusement took over, making him ten times more approachable. Parker's intense expression flattened to one of irritation as he sighed.
"Tell me you didn't do what I think you did." Parker gave Andre a droll look.
"Oh, I did." Andre was full-out grinning. He flipped over the phone I hadn’t even noticed on his knee, and a woman's face appeared.
I'd never seen their woman before. But from the brief glimpse, she was slight, or at least very delicate. It did nothing to diminish the anger flushing her pale cheeks.
"Parker." The woman's voice was low, like Andre had the volume turned down.
"Little Love," Parker said in his most charming voice. "I didn't realize you wanted to join us." He picked up the phone and immediately, his psycho expression turned to one of warmth and even...love.
So fucking strange.
"Andre, where are your earbuds," Parker snapped, angling the camera so that his wife didn't see his anger.
"Sorry, I didn't bring them." Andre didn't look sorry at all. In fact, I'd bet he either forgot them on purpose or had them in his pocket, unwilling to give them up.
Parker pressed his lips together, glaring for an extra beat before rearranging his face. "What can I do for you, Little Love?" He brought the phone back up to face him, turning up the volume.
"You can stop being an ass. I thought you left that part of your personality behind you."
His cheeks flushed. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've always offered my utmost respect to my business partners."
"It sounded like you were trying to intimidate a woman. An innocent woman." There was real anger in her voice, and the more she spoke, the more chastised Parker looked as Andre's grin grew into the widest, shittiest grin I'd ever seen on one face.
"I didn't mean it,” he easily admitted. Could have fooled me. “I wouldn't have followed through. You know me better than that."
Atlas choked, and I shot him a look. Do not make me have to shoot them.
He didn't give a shit about my look. He was too caught up in his own mirth and how his fingers now danced on Beasty’s thigh. The asshole was eating this up.
Beasty, though, she watched Parker with a confused expression like she couldn't reconcile this Parker to the cartel boss of two minutes ago.
"I don't care. I don't ever want to hear you even breathe a threat at a woman. Especially not the one you're talking to. We've discussed my feelings on this." A baby whined in the background but that didn't seem to penetrate the conversation.
My eyebrows hit my hairline. They'd discussed us?
Attempting a pout, Parker seemed to be trying to appeal to her softer side. "Little Love. I have a reputation to uphold, and that little shit with the cards tricked me."